Season of mists and stuff

I’ve been busy with storytelling and similar commitments during the past few days and I’d like a day to rest, sit in my armchair, read a little, listen to music and blow bubbles. However, life goes on making demands…

But it doesn’t stop me enjoying the autumn colours. Walking home from town this morning I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures on my nice new smartphone – the technology is of course far too complicated for me, but I’ve managed to learn how to use it as a camera.

Thee’s something magical about the reflections of trees in still water. No wonder the edges of lakes and woods feature so often in folktales; they’re entries to the Other Realm. One must be careful where one walks.

At least the ducks know to which world they belong. It’s the one in which humans come to the edge of the lake and feed them.

Chlorophyll continues to dominate the colour of the grass and even some trees (at least, it does if you have ordinary boring colour vision), but the visual pleasure for most of us arises from the altered pigmentation of most of the foliage…

Yellow xanthophyll, orange carotenes, red anthocyanins… Delightful chemical combinations, but who cares about the science when there’s such a visual treat for all to behold?

I’m told that haiku, which in English terms comprise three lines of five, seven and five syllables, have to refer to a season of the year. I’m by no means a poet, especially since I struggle to find the right language to describe the beauty of this particular season, and I don’t believe I could ever compose a satisfactory haiku. But I’m bound to say that

I forgot my phone a couple weeks ago and had a moment of mild panic as I wondered how I would get through all my errands without my phone. I didn’t have time to go back for it, so the kids and I had the most peaceful day of errands EVER! Of course, my friends were wondering why I didn’t reply to texts, and my husband was a little stressed because he didn’t know where we were, but WE sure had a good day.

Sometimes I forget my phone, too (along with other desiderata such as my name, my address…), but I always get so much flak for daring to go anywhere without the thing that I try very hard NOT to forget it. Most of the time…